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Hewitts: Tryfan
Date walked: 13/04/2009
Time taken: 2 hours
Distance: 3km
Ascent: 620m
Weather: Clear and sunny, with a fresh breeze.
Staying down at my parents house over Easter, and I fancied a quick visit to the hills. As my wife was with me, I didn't really feel that I could go off for the whole day and leave her at the mercy of my parents, so I decided to do a quick early morning walk. Tryfan fitted the bill nicely, as it is a classic mountain, has loads of fun scrambling on, and can be done very quickly.
I left the car at 7.40am, having parked on the A5 near Glan Dena. Headed over the fence and directly towards the N ridge. Lower down on the ridge, there are endless route possibilities, from steep walking to difficult scrambling, so you can pretty much match a route to your ability. You need to watch out that you don't traverse too far to the left though, or you end up losing the ridge and ascending the Heather Terrace, up under the E face.
Higher up, the ridge becomes less broad and all of the various paths meet. A couple of small flat terraces are passed, the lower of these having the cannon on it. This is a splinter of rock angled at 45 degrees to the ridge, and the location of many posed photos. In the early morning, it lacked the usual sun, and there was a cold breeze, so I didn't hang around for long.
Llyn Ogwen, Y Garn, Foel Goch and Carnedd y Ffilliast:
The cannon from a disappointing angle:
Above the higher terrace, the top part of the N ridge can be seen shooting into the sky. The easier route from here heads up and left slightly, and traverses arond the N and far N summits, giving great gully views, before finally ascending directly behind Adam and Eve. The path is fairly obvious. However, I fancied taking the ridge directly, as I hadn't done that for some time. This is where the most continuous and exposed scrambling is. The best route seems to be on the left of the ridge, but as it narrows down, you end up on the crest anyway. I did a strange bit of contouring high up, and ended up at the top of the far N gully.
Looking down the N ridge onto the upper terrace:
Llyn Bochlwyd, Llyn Idwal, Y Garn:
Top section of the N ridge:
Looking down from the N ridge crux:
N summit from the far N summit:
Quick visit to the far N summit (hardly a separate summit at all) and I carried on to the N summit. Easier again here, as there is less exposure. Soon I was moving onto the main summit, (just before 9am) where I had a quick stop to admire the view. The day was clearly going to be another hot and sunny one, but there was still a fair nip in the air at this point.
Main summit from the N summit:
N summit from the main summit:
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Adam and Eve:
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...and again. Fancy a jump?
Decided against leaping to attain the 'Freedom of Tryfan' (as usual - one day, maybe!), and carried on over the S summit and down the S ridge. This is mainly steep walking, but you need your hands out of your pockets here and there. The rock is very secure though. At the col between the S and far S summit, there is a drystone wall and a couple of ladder stiles. I was headed over here next, but firstly took in the far S summit. No-one else around apart from a couple of fell runners who were descending the S ridge behind me. They must've come up at a fair lick as I didn't see them on the N ridge anywhere.
Main summit from the S summit:
S summit from the far S summit:
Bristly Ridge and Glyder Fach:
Over the wall, a short easy scree run is followed before the heather terrace is picked up. This path contours down the side of Cwm Tryfan just beneath the main cliffs of the E face. From here, you can look up all of the main gullies and see where all of the classic E face rock climbs begin. It feels a bit like walking round the base of the Buachaille. Passed a couple of guys low down, before descending back to the car. I was home shortly after 11am.
Far south summit and Bristly Ridge (leading to Glyder Fach):
Back up the east face to Adam and Eve from the heather terrace:
Typical Welsh mountain goats:
More views up the east face:
Last look up the east face:
Given more time, the obvious continuation of the route is down to Bwlch Tryfan, then up Bristly Ridge. This is fairly similar in style to the N ridge of Tryfan, and just as much fun. From here you can cross over Glyder Fach and descend Y Gribin, or carry on over Glyder Fawr, Y Garn etc etc. So many brilliant route opportunities in such a small area.
